Streamlining the Small Commercial New Construction Market: a Prescriptive Approach to Comprehensive Savings with Core Performance

Panel: Commercial Buildings: Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation

Authors:
Jonathan Kleinman, CLEAResult Consulting, Inc.
Jay Pilliod, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
Mark Frankel, New Buildings Institute
Matt Socks, Optimal Energy, Inc.

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges for energy efficiency programs is to achieve comprehensive energy savings in the small commercial new construction market. This market represents a significant "lost opportunity," accounting for substantial portions of new floorspace and new construction projects. But, for these small projects, efficiency programs typically offer prescriptive incentives on a limited range of technologies, at most achieving effective lighting design but overlooking controls or system interactions. One reason is that energy modeling is cost-prohibitive for smaller projects. Another is that designers lack the time or incentive to determine and hit "high performance" targets on each project and satisfy administrative requirements for unpredictable incentive offers. Third, building owners and/or occupants lack concrete information up front to support a commitment to energy efficiency.

Fortunately, New Buildings Institute's new Core Performance program provides an opportunity for Efficiency Vermont to establish a low-cost, high-volume approach to comprehensive savings in this market. Core Performance sets national prescriptive design targets which achieve energy savings of 20 percent or more over Vermont's new commercial energy code. With New Buildings Institute, Efficiency Vermont has developed a "savings matrix" across a range of building types, sizes, and operating conditions, providing both normalized energy savings and cost estimates. By pairing standard incentives with these savings and cost estimates, Efficiency Vermont creates a more predictable process for design professionals, end use customers, and staff. This paper discusses the challenges of the small commercial construction market, provides a brief overview of the development of Core Performance, summarizes the results of the analysis, and identifies steps that Efficiency Vermont has already taken in implementing this approach.